


trust the force, trust in us

by melanoradrood



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Everybody Lives, Gen, Jyn Erso-centric, Lyra Erso Lives, Minor Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-12 22:53:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14737340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melanoradrood/pseuds/melanoradrood
Summary: Jyn Erso reimagined - She's still with the Partisans when Bodhi and his message arrives on Jedha, and he has surprising news... that her mother is still alive and held on Eadu.Written forJyn Erso Appreciation Weekon Tumblr.





	1. Escape from Jedha ( and the shackles that hold me down )

They know who she is - this whole city does. She’s Saw Gerrera’s daughter, Jyn. They know that Saw… they know what he does, that it’s drastic, that he fights back against Imps throughout the galaxy, and yes, it makes Jedha a dangerous place to live…

They also know that Saw provides money, provides food, provides medicine. They know that when Jyn comes into the city, that she’s bringing something with her, and that the Guardians can be trusted to disperse it. 

They know that when someone comes to Ni Jedha looking for Saw Gerrara, they should tell his daughter, Jyn, and then get out of the way. That’s exactly what happens, when an Imperial Cargo Pilot starts asking around for her father.

What she doesn’t expect is, when she has a blaster pointed at his skull, the next words out of his mouth are to say that he has a message from her father, her  _ real _ father, and no one should know that name, no one should know that her last name is really Erso, that her father and mother are being held captive by the Empire…

She swings back her hand and hits him hard enough on the side of his head with the muzzle of her blaster that he slumps forward, and she has two seconds to make a decision. She can go to Saw, to an old and dying man that is more paranoid than ever, or she can listen to this message. It might be a trap. It could very well be a trap.

Or it could be real.

She takes the Cargo Pilot, who’s scandocs say that he’s Bodhi Rook, originally of Jedha, to the temple. The Guardians there know her, know far more about her than she really wishes, but she trusts them, trusts that they obviously won’t tell the Troopers patrolling the street that she brought a man in uniform in there, but also that they won’t tell Saw. Her entire crew, everyone on this base, are currently laying low, because they have plans for next week, because they know that another shipment is going out then, and they don’t want to risk spooking anyone, so no one will see.

She can drag him through the underground tunnels until they’re in a now empty Temple, because what was once protected was long gone, and all that was left was dust and sand and memories and a religion that her mother had once held dear. The only kyber crystal that remains free is the one against her skin, not that anyone knows of it, save for Chirrut, but he’s blind, so…

She pours some of her water, a precious commodity on a desert planet, onto the pilot’s head, and he sits up sputtering, eyes wide. Her blaster is put away, but she’s dangerous even without a weapon in hand.

It takes a second, but then the pilot is scampering away from her, and there’s nowhere for him to go, because the door is shut and the room is empty, so as his back presses to the wall, she stands up, taking him in. She wishes she had data on him, knew more about him than what his docs say, but he’s young, practically a baby, and he looks like it as well. He might even be her age. She doubts they would send anyone this young to set a trap.

Then again, she has been fighting since before she was half her age now.

“The message. You said you have a message from Galen Erso for Saw Gerrera. Where is it?”

She could have searched him, but this starts with trust, and if he knows where her father is, then she needs his help.

“You don’t understand - it’s for Saw alone. It’s for Saw. Please, I must speak to him.”

Jyn laughs, because no, that is certainly not happening. Maybe it is a trap, maybe it isn’t, but this man would be destined for the Bor Gullet… he didn’t want to see Saw.

“You don’t get to Saw unless you go through me. Where’s the message, Imperial.”

“Are you her? Are you Jyn?”

She tries not to think, tries not to move, because the man in white, the Director, he knows who she is… he knew her name so long ago, knows now what age she would be, and if this is a trap… They were still looking for her, even after all this time. She had hacked into the database a few times. The holos they had to compare to what she should look like now were a little off - she is more like her mother than her father - but she is still wanted,  _ alive _ .

“Are you Galen’s daughter? You look more like Lyra. Your mother, she said that you would have a necklace, a kyber necklace. Is it you? Are you Jyn Erso?”

Jyn scoffs, because… because…

They wouldn’t know about the necklace. She doubts Krennic even knows that her mama had taken the crystal from her father’s desk, when they left Coruscant. No one knows about it, save for her parents, save for Saw.

No one could ever know.

“She, she told me to tell you, to Trust the Force. Trust the Force, and trust me. Is it you? Are you Jyn Erso?”

She doesn’t stop, doesn’t think, just crosses the room to the man, grabbing him by the front of his shirt. “My parents. You’ve seen my parents?”

Because it couldn’t be a trap. No one could know that. Not unless they tortured her mother… they wouldn’t torture her mother just to get to her, to get to Saw, would they? They might, but…

“Did you see my parents?”

Bodhi, the man, he laughs, and Jyn pulls the crystal from out of her shirt, showing it. It sparkles in the light from the torch, and he nods, reaching into his pocket. There’s a holodisk there, and she takes it from him, sucking in a breath, because there really was a message.

“See them? I know them. Your father, he told me that I could fix this, fix what I’ve become - no, that’s not the point. Your mother, they keep her locked up, but they are allowed a few hours a week. She wasn’t well, and I was her pilot.”

“My mother was unwell?”

“She’s alright now,” he rushes to explain, and she nods, still looking at the disk. She needs… she needs a holoplayer. The guardians likely wouldn’t have one, but she did… she did on her U-Wing. It was still back at the compound, but she… she could get it, could go…

“Jyn, there’s something else you need to know… there’s a weapon.”

Everything in the room stops. She doesn’t breathe, can’t breathe, because she knows there’s a weapon… Rebel Intelligence had warned Saw of it a few years before, and while Saw had disregarded it, because he is more concerned with the present than the future, she has passed every bit of intel she found on it up the line. There is a weapon, and she already knew her father was working on it.

“It has to do with my father’s research, doesn it?”

Bodhi nods, and Jyn nods in response, sucking in a breath.

“It’s almost operational. That’s why we finally took the risk. There’s a way to destroy the weapon. Your father, he said that Saw has contacts, that they can get the plans from Scarif.”

“Scarif?” she raises a brow at that, because it’s a tiny planet with a little Imperial outpost and nothing more.

“All of the Imperial data-drives are there. You can go to Scarif, get the plans, and destroy it.”

“Kark the plans!” she says, and really, she doesn’t give a damn about them. “My parents. We can get my parents. My father can redraw the plans for us.”

“Jyn, no, they’re on Eadu.”

Eadu… no way in, no way out, without being detected.

“Can you fly me there?” she asks, and she has gone undercover before, but never into the heart of the beast.

“What? No, Jyn, the plan is for you to go to the Rebel Alliance, give them the message, and get the plans from Scarif.”

She had left her parents behind on Lah’mu, watched her mother be shot, watched them drag her towards the transport while her father tried to stop the bleeding. She knew it had barely grazed her mother, but… she had lost them that day. She wouldn’t lose them again.

“Saw and the Rebels, they had a falling out. We can’t just go to Scarif. If we want to get the plans, we have to get my father off Eadu. It’s the only way. Can you fly us?”

There was panic in the pilot’s face, and Jyn… Jyn doesn’t know why, but she suddenly feels ill.

“I have to be back there now. I was only supposed to drop off and then go, not even leaving the shuttle. I’ll be reported UA if I don’t report back soon. It might already be too late.”

They have to go, and they have to go now.

Grabbing him by his arm, she jerks him to the door, only to find two Guardians on the other side. One of them, well, he’s a little crazy, but Baze knows how to carry himself in a fight.

“We’re going with you,” the gruff man says, and she would argue it, but-

“The Force is with us,” Chirrut says, and kark the Force, she is going to save her parents.

“Suit yourselves, but we have to go. I’m assuming you heard all of that?”

“Of course,” Chirrut says with a shrug, and she rolls her eyes to Baze.

“Baze, Chirrut, this is Bodhi. We’re going to rescue my father.”

“And what about the father you already have?” Chirrut asks. 

Jyn… she doesn’t have an answer for that. Not yet. Not really.

“We have to go now,” she says, and Saw will understand, eventually. “We go to Eadu, save my father, and-”

She has nothing on her. Nothing, save for the clothes on her back, her blaster, her truncheon, and a few vibros. Not even a few explosives.

“We have to go,” Bodhi says, and that’s that.

She doesn’t stop to think again until they’ve slipped onto the shuttle, paying off one of the street kids to start a fight to distract the troopers, and then they’re all on board, and Bodhi is taking off, and she - 

She looks towards the compound, looks towards Saw, and she knows that she can’t come back here. Her parents are alive, and there’s a weapon, and she… she has to go save them.

It’s an escape, she realizes, as the shuttle breaks atmo. For the past thirteen years, her every day has been a struggle to survive. She’s the daughter of an Imperial Scientist, and she carries this knowledge like a prison, trapping her every day. Her real name is a secret she can never expose, and she’s trapped in her memories, watching her mother be shot, remembering briefly the escape from Coruscant, Saw coming for them the first time, and just for her the second time - 

She has spent her entire life trapped, trapped because the Empire is crushing down around her, and it’s a prison, and she… she fights, because she has nothing else. She might not agree with how Saw only sees the present, but the Rebel Alliance, they were weak and inactive. She can’t just sit around, so she fights, and she fights, and she fights, but nothing changes, nothing gets better.

And now, she’s escaping. Escaping the prison of her name, of her family, of her position, of even the desert planet.

She’s shedding the shackles that are on Lieutenant Jyn Gerrera of the Partisans, and now…

She’s going to find her parents. She’s going to be Jyn Erso. And she’s going to destroy this karking weapon.


	2. Reunion on Eadu ( we’re still alive, let that be enough )

The message scares her. It scares her and worries her, because her father  _ insisted _ that she not come for him… but he doesn’t know her, doesn’t know what she has done. He doesn’t know that she’s Saw’s best fighter, that she has bested every rebel soldier she has faced, every storm and death trooper, that she’s not the best pilot, but that she can outshoot any TIE she comes across.

She’s a force to be reckoned with, and she’ll die before she lets her parents stay on Eadu to rot.

The plan is simple… there is no plan. Not really. There’s no deathtroopers stationed on Eadu, there’s no one new coming in and out, and her bare face would be recognized quickly, given how much she looks like her mother.

That means she can’t be spotted.

Bodhi has drawn her a map, and she has the message, has made a copy of it, has given one copy to the Guardians, the other in the comm unit, so that they can send the message if she is caught. They will stay on the shuttle, Baze at the ready to cover them leaving, because they might get in easily, but there was no way that their escape would be simple.

Bodhi would depart the ship like normal, and in a few minutes, she would follow after, follow the map. Bodhi would go to her father’s lab to gather him, and she would go to their rooms, because that was where her mother was normally kept. There are cells a few floors below, and Jyn might have to search there next if the rooms are empty.

It’s a terrible plan, but Jyn won’t be spotted. She can’t be spotted. She just has to be fast, has to move, has to…

It’s a terrible karking plan, but she pulls on Bodhi’s extra uniform all the same, his flight suit, and puts her hair into a small tail and pops his extra set of goggles onto her head. They look nothing alike, but she has her weapons on her, and at a glance, with her dark hair, if she just keeps her head down, they’re going in opposite directions, she might just pass for him.

_ It’s a terrible karking plan. _

It’s the only plan they have, so when they land, they go for it. 

Jyn counts down, watching how Bodhi climbs down from the shuttle, and there’s no one around, no one looking their way. Her eyes follow him as he goes to the door, and he gives her the code, and honestly, there’s just one generic code? So pathetic. So easy. She could have sliced her way in, but a code is easier.

And then he’s gone, into the turbolift.

She counts, and counts, and counts, and just before she finally goes to step off, Baze grabs her. The man rarely talks much, but she knows that he has a soft spot for tookas and lost children… Jyn Erso might be 21 years old, but she also certainly feels like a lost child as the large Guardian pulls her in for a hug.

“Give us an hour, and then you send the transmission. If Bodhi comes back without me, you give me ten more minutes, and then go.”

“You will return to us, Jyn,” Chirrut says, and she scoffs. The force wasn’t with her, wasn’t with them… No matter what they said.

Trying to hunch her shoulders a little, Jyn makes her way to the turbolift, punching in the code. Bodhi had said to go down, down three floors. She hits the button and waits, and she sees no one, and this is far too simple, too easy. Something should go wrong.

Stepping off of the lift, she turns right and shuffles along, and still no one, nothing. Bodhi had warned her that this was primarily a research facility, that it held only two squadrons of troopers, a group of scientists, and a few pilots that were in and out with various cargo shipments, but really, this deserted?

The living quarters are acceptable, and she has to choose the right one, because if she just walks into one that  _ isn’t _ holding her parents, she’ll raise some sort of alarm. Five, six, seven, eighth door on the left.

Her fingers shake as she reaches for the keypad, and here’s the hard part. She can’t be seen, knows that if her mother is in there, that the door is locked from the outside…

She can only hope to something invisible that this is the right room.

It’s easy to break in, because there’s nothing inside anyone would want into, more to keep someone locked inside than anyone else, and in two seconds, Jyn is replacing the cover on the keypad, the door clicking unlocked.

Pushing it open, she takes a few slow steps, and hears nothing, sees nothing. The room is dark, and there are books on the table, and Jyn thinks this might be the wrong room… but there is a small box filled with rocks in a glass case sitting on a table, and she sees a picture of the three of them on the counter, and she knows, this is her parent’s rooms.

“Mama?” she calls out, and she’s greeted with silence.

Absolute silence.

This was a trap. It had to all be a trap.

There’s one door to go through, and Jyn pulls a blade from where she has it tucked into the flight suit, pulls it apart enough in the front to grab her blaster, and she’s armed and ready, pushing the door open. Inside is a bed, and she turns, looking for something more, the fresher - 

And it opens to reveal a woman that looks like her, a woman that she knows from her dreams and memory, a woman she can’t believe isn’t dead.

Her mother looks older, much older, thinner, but there’s still fire in the eyes of a woman that Jyn always thought to be a pacifist. There were a few times that Jyn wondered how her mother might think of her, her daughter that killed and destroyed and fought back… Then again, her mother had charged at a squadron of troopers and a crazed Imp with nothing but a pistol, so really, maybe she was just living in her mother’s footsteps.

“Mama,” she whispers, and the woman takes two steps to her before falling to her knees.

Jyn drops the weapons in both hands, reaching into the suit, and she pulls out the crystal, the kyber crystal, the one that she had received all those years before.

“Oh Jyn,” her mama whispers, and there’s no need to see the crystal, even, because of course a mother would recognize their child, recognize their eyes, their smile, their  _ relief _ .

“Oh mama, I got Papa’s message. Bodhi, he found me on Jedha. We came to rescue you. Bodhi has gone for Papa in his lab, but we need to go before we’re found.”

“Jyn, you should have gone to Scarif. The weapon… your Papa isn’t here.”

Jyn feels ill, because what if Bodhi was walking into a trap? She could fly, of course, but she didn’t want to leave him behind.

“What? But… I thought he was here?”

Lyra shakes her head, and the two women are silent for a moment before Jyn gives a nod.

“Alright. Alright, we get off of Eadu, and then we go and find Papa.”

“They took him to Scarif,” her mother says, and Jyn has to laugh, because of course they would take him there… a place for Imperial Records, and now, her father would be useless.

“Then we go to Scarif. We go to the Rebellion, and we go to Scarif, and we get him back.”

“Jyn… Where is Saw?”

She shakes her head, because there isn’t time. “Mama, Saw is more paranoid now than he ever was. He would have tortured Bodhi. I came alone, but the Rebellion, they will listen to us. Come on. We have to go.”

She gives her mother two minutes to pack a bag - a change of clothes, her research, but nothing that could be tracked. The picture, one from her father’s desk in Coruscant, is the last item in, and Jyn is nodding at her mama.

“We have to go up the turbolift, and back out to the landing pads. The shuttle is waiting for us there, along with friends that will cover us. If we run into anyone, stay behind me.”

“Jyn, you can’t fight an entire base.”

All she can do is laugh, picking up her blaster, pulling her truncheon from her hip, and she strips off the flight suit, left standing in her normal attire, vest on her chest, and her hair pulled back from her face.

“I’d like to see them try and stop us.”

 

* * *

 

This can’t be it. This can’t possibly be it.

There’s supposed to be something more, something harder, except they reach the turbolift with no issue.

The doors open to the landing pads, and Jyn puts in the code… and the doors open. There’s no one on the other side, and she’s confused, so confused, because there  _ was _ people on this outpost, as Bodhi had spoken to control when they landed…

But nothing. No one.

She’s still on guard as they step into the shuttle, and Baze and Chirrut are both sitting there, looking utterly bored. No Bodhi, not yet, but he certainly has time… It will take less than thirty seconds to start the shuttle, so they can wait as long as they need.

“Ah, the little sister has returned, and with one who is strong within the Force,” Chirrut says, and Jyn rolls her eyes, ignoring the introductions while checking the comms, and it’s radio silence.

Why is it so quiet?

“Get ready,” Chirrut says, and she looks up from where she is, seeing that Baze has his gun at the ready.

She rises from where she is, stepping back towards the open gate, and there’s nothing… absolutely nothing… and then there’s Bodhi, coming out of the turbolift, eyes wide, running for all his might.

“WE HAVE TO GO!” he’s yelling, and Jyn doesn’t want to leave the front line, but no one else here can start the shuttle. She climbs the ladder in three steps, running to the cockpit, and she has the engine going, is running quickly through the pre-flight steps, as Bodhi joins her up there.

“Shuttle door closed, we have to go,” he says, and Jyn looks at him in confusion, brow furrowed, because there’s nothing going on down there, no shouting, no shots fired… just silence. Absolute silence. Almost like the base had been… abandoned.

“They’re firing the weapon,” he says, and Jyn’s hands freeze on the controls. Bodhi is yelling at her, grabbing the controls from her, and she half falls out of the pilot’s seat onto the floor beside it, letting him take control.

They were going to fire the weapon, with her mother still within.

“Your father is gone, and they left behind the scientists, withdrew the troops. It was all a trap, but not for us. They’re destroying everything but the original records and your father. He left a message there for your mother, if she went to his lab. I don’t know when they’re doing it, but it can’t be more than a few hours from now.”

She’s still sitting on the floor, hand gripping the copilot’s seat as they take off, and then she… she has to ask.

“They’re going to kill my Papa, aren’t they,” she whispers, and Bodhi looks down at her, gives a shake of his head.

“They want to build more weapons,” says a voice behind them, and Jyn looks to see that her mother has climbed up the ladder. 

Jyn shifts to stand, and pulls at her neck, pulling out the crystal. Her fingers wrap around it, an old habit, and she remains silent as her mother steps forward, a bit shaky.

“You should be sitting down,” Jyn says, and she goes to move out of her mother’s way so that she can sit in the copilot’s seat, but her mother shakes her head no.

“I have sat still for long enough, but only because I was kept down. It’s time to stand up. They want your father to build more weapons, but we’re going to stop them.”

Jyn nods her head and looks at Bodhi, who nods as well.

“And we’re going with you!” a voice calls from down below.

“You didn’t even ask me first,” says a gruff voice, and Jyn rolls her eyes.

“Oh, so are we dropping you off on Jedha?” Jyn asks, and she can hear Chirrut’s snort in response.

“... No.”

Jyn crosses her arms under her breasts, looking at their group of three, glad to know that Chirrut, AND Baze, all agree to come with her.

“Bodhi, set course for Yavin. We’re going to see the Rebel Alliance.”


	3. Legacy of Scarif ( what we do today matters )

She can’t believe she’s doing this… approaching Yavin without clearance codes, against Saw’s orders, but this has to be done. She can’t go back to Jedha. This ship was marked, and there was an Imperial presence on the planet as it was. No, she had to go to the Rebellion, to those that she knew that could make a difference, that would make a difference. How many times had she listened in as they lamented knowing that the Empire had a terrible plan, but they didn’t know what it was…

And here she is, approaching with answers to questions they hadn’t even begun to ask.

“Base One, this is Lieutenant Jyn Gerrera of the Partisans. I have valuable information for the Council.”

She had been saying this on repeat on every channel as they begun to approach, because they were in an Imperial Cargo Shuttle, and she was _not_ going to be shot down now.

“Cargo Shuttle, we need your clearance codes.”

She knows they’re out of date, so she won’t even bother, particularly because she recognizes that voice.

“Wedge Antilles, you clear me for landing, or I’m going to come in there and beat you bloody.”

There’s a shuffle on the comms, and then she hears the General, who, in truth, she never knows if she should trust or run from.

“Saw Gerrera made his position perfectly clear, Jyn. We’re not interested in what you have to tell us.”

She bangs her hand on the wall beside the comm unit, and then looks to Bodhi, giving him a nod. They have to land somewhere, and it’s going to be Yavin, no matter how Draven felt about the matter.

“Saw didn’t send me. I’m here because of my father. My real father. I have information on an Imperial Scientist and his work on the Death Star. It’s real, General. It’s real, and I have proof.”

There’s a sharp intake on the other side, and she sucks in a breath, looking to her mother, to the Guardians, and then -

“You’re cleared to land, cargo shuttle. No one leaves the shuttle into you are cleared. All weapons are to be set on the ground. Lieutenant Gerrera is to have her hands raised. Understood?”

She scoffs, because of course they fears her.

“Kark you, Antilles. I’ll see you in ten.”

 

* * *

 

It takes two days to get everyone there, and by then, she has had a shower, Bodhi has a new uniform, the Guardians have already decided they are bored, and her mother… well, she has settled. Lyra had finished drawing a rough sketch of the Death Star the first night, but from there, she tries to write down measurements, details on how it works, everything her father has ever told her mother. It’s not enough, but it will have to be enough, because every member of the Rebel Council has landed, and there’s no more time.

They have all been under lock and key, more or less, but they were given back their weapons, which is good enough for Jyn. Bail Organa trusts her, and that goes rather far on a Rebel base. At least they believe her enough to call a meeting.

Believe her enough that her mother wasn’t in binders, and she is allowed to freely roam a little.

The place looks the same, even if she hadn’t been on the base the last few times Saw was here, which was… part of the reason why they had split most recently. It looks the same, it feels the same, but it shouldn’t be… they are on the verge of war, and it is still the same as it had been the first time she landed there, at eight years old. Didn’t they know, didn’t they understand?

No… no, they didn’t understand, because most of these, they were all just waiting, waiting, waiting, and she was out there, every day, fighting back. For her, the war had begun on Lah’mu. To these rebels, there is no war, not yet. Not really.

She had to sit down, with Bail, with Draven, with Mothma, with Raddus, before the meeting began. She knew these, they knew her, knew what she had done… Draven even knew that she had spied for him a time or two, never meeting him afterwards, but always sending word through the Fulcrum, whoever that is.

They could trust her… they knew that… which was why she told them first.

“My name is Jyn Erso,” she says, and she waits for the nail to drop, for them to respond…

“We know,” General Draven says, and she blinks, because… “We’ve always known. Saw Gerrera was integral in getting your parents off Coruscant. Once your father was reportedly back as an Imperial Scientist, and Saw appeared with a daughter about your age… it wasn’t hard to put together.”

Jyn gives a shrug, because honestly, she hadn’t assumed the Rebels were all that smart to put it together, but she would not argue.

“My father is telling the truth. His message, it’s the truth,” she says, and maybe they believe her, but don’t believe in him. Her judgement could be clouded, she knows that, but they have to believe. “My mother,  they had been torturing her for years, to keep my father in line. What his message says. My father did what he had to to protect her, to protect me, but he’s one of us.”

The Senator Mothma shakes her head a little, like it’s too hard to believe. “We understand that your father was kept in hard circumstances, but he still built the weapon.”

“They could have done it without him,” Jyn says, and she can’t help but to scoff, because really… really, they could have. Eventually. “So instead, he went over every detail, and laid a trap. Better that he be involved and make it possible to destroy, rather than not touch it at all. Just… listen to the message. Listen to what my mother says We can stop this before it even begins, but only if you listen.”

The room they are in is off from the command center, and she can see through the glass that it is starting to fill up, that her mother is already there, and Bodhi as well. Neither really had to be here, but Bodhi had carried the message, and her mother had been there on Eadu all that time. There wasn’t much more than what was in the message, but they were here to support her, to see this through.

Jyn hates speaking to a crowd just as much as they do, but sometimes, you have to be stronger than you really are, because it has to be done. And this? They’re out of options. They need the help.

“We have to destroy it. We have to destroy it before they use it. There’s no other choice.

 

* * *

 

They don’t believe her father’s message, her mother’s story… no, they do. They know that her family had escaped Coruscant with Saw, they know that their little farm on Lah’mu had been attacked, know that her mother was tortured, know that she was on the run hiding, know that her father… that her father’s research was used to create a weapon. They might even believe that there’s a way to destroy it, that the plans were on Scarif.

They don’t believe that it’s as terrible as her mother claims. It sounds preposterous, a planet killer, a planet destroyer, but Jyn knows, knows that the Empire will not stop until they have brought the entirety of the galaxy down around them, every citizen forced onto their knees, to beg for the scraps, left to do as the Emperor commanded.

Her father is on Scarif, with the plans, and they can go and get him, get the details, destroy them as well, so that they can never be used again. They have a chance, have no real choice.

“What is wrong with you?”

She has been silent, entirely silent, save when she had first introduced herself, not uttering another word. Most of those within this room had at least some vague idea as to who she is. They all know of Saw, know what he could do, would do for the cause, and they know that she is his right hand, that she is his enforcer, his spy, his assassin, his greatest weapon. There’s mild respect in that, because she’s a thorn in the Empire’s side, she is the voice of reason, the one that can soothe over many edges in tense meetings…

But now they know her true name, and everyone within the room is on edge. It doesn’t matter that she has spent her entire life fighting for the cause. All that matters is her real last name.

She has been silent, listening to the questions, watching the message again and again, listening to her mother’s repeated explanations, but no more. She can remain silent no longer.

“What is wrong with all of you? We have known for some time that the Empire was building towards something, that they were biding their time, waiting until they could strike, could act without any standing in their way, and here we are. The plans are there, we can act first, can be ready, and you want to run and hide?”

“If the Empire has this kind of power, what chance do we have?” Senator Pamlo asks.

Jyn can’t believe the weakness that surrounds her. Always before, she had found Saw to be too aggressive, but now she understands. The Rebellion is weak.

“What chance do we have? The question is what choice.”

The room stills around her, and she might not be one of them, not really, but she is one of the most experienced, has fought, truly, more than most others in this room, save for those that were still alive from the Clone Wars. She is the one that knows, that understands, that truly understands that you have to fight, have to fight until your last breath, because _there is no other choice._

The room is utterly still save for one man, and he’s almost directly across from her, standing behind Senator Mothma, leaning against one of the separators in the room. His arms have been crossed over his chest the entire time, but now he’s standing up straighter, and their eyes lock for a brief moment. Perhaps, she is not the only one within this room that understands the cost of failure.

“Run, hide, plead for mercy, scatter your forces… You give way to an enemy this evil, with this much power, and you condemn the galaxy to an eternity of submission. The time to fight is now!”

Every eye is on her, and she looks around, locks eyes with Bail Organa, who had put together this Rebellion, who had listened to Saw, who knows what she knows, who understands… she looks at General Draven, who always calls her a girl, but there is a hint of respect in his gaze, and she raises her chin as she then looks towards the Senator Mothma. Her eyes never stop on the man that she saw before, but he’s still there, watching her, waiting for her next words.

“Every moment you waste is a step closer to death! You would wait for a sign of destruction before you act? Act first! Do not allow the Empire to stomp on us when we have the power to bring it down!”

There’s a sudden hum in the air as those around her start to understand, start to listen. They are scared, of course they are, but they have to be brave. Only true bravery comes when you are afraid, and they should be terrified. They should be terrified, and they should fight.

“What is she proposing?” a voice calls from the back of the room.

One of the older Generals responds - “Let the girl speak!”

She takes in a breath, because really, Jyn doesn’t have a plan… she is the messenger, the one that sends out the orders that are given to her, but now… now she has to step up, because no one else is strong enough, because it has to be done.

“Set aside old rivalries and mend old wounds. Fix the broken bridge between yourselves and Saw Gerrera. He will come, if you call for him. Gather the entire rebel fleet, and join forces with mine. We go to Scarif, we find my father, we take the plans. We take all of the plans, destroy them all if we have to. We have time - the Death Star is not yet active. We take the plans, destroy the Citadel so they cannot build another, and then we move - we find it, we destroy it.”

The crowd agrees with her, they are with her, she can feel it. There is hope in the air, hope because it is needed, because there is no other choice.

It’s Senator Pamlo that responds again, and Taris is doomed if their people are as weak as their leadership. “You’re asking us to invade an Imperial installation based on nothing but hope!”

Jyn can’t help but to laugh softly, because this, standing beside her father, standing in a rebel base, knowing that they could act, that they have a chance.

“Rebellions are built on hope.” A voice across the room calls out that response, and Jyn whips her head to look at the one that says it. His words are filled with convictions, and she locks eyes with the man that she had seen before, tucked away.

Her breathing stops, and she believes in it, no longer fears the future, because there is strength in this room if they will only rise up.

Until another voice speaks, shattering it all.

“There is no hope!”

The entirety of the room was in an uproar at the man’s words, a Senator she doesn’t recognize, and Jyn can stand it no longer. She reaches out, grabbing onto Bodhi’s shoulder, and pushes herself up so that she is standing on the table. Every pair of eyes locks onto her, every voice dies out, and she knows she looks insane, can see the guards shifting with their weapons, but she will not stand to let this rebellion fall. Not now. Not when they are on the precipice of war.

This would be the legacy of the Erso’s - that when the time came, she rose to the occasion, that she fought back. Not this Death Star. She would fight. Her father had dedicated his life to giving them a chance, and she was going to take it, and they would take it with her.

“Are you truly this weak? You would rather see an Imperial flag reign across the galaxy? You would return home and wait to die? What is wrong with all of you? I offer you a chance at victory before it has even begun, and you are unable to act?”

There is a slam on the table, and Jyn knows it to be Admiral Raddus that answers her call to arms.

“We fight. We have to fight. The girl is right. Why join an Alliance if you are unable to stand by it when it needs you? Leave, then, if you cannot face the reality, but it’s fight or die. We’re with you, Jyn.”

There are more choruses agreeing to it, and a few leaders slip away, shaking their heads, but most are cheering for her, cheering their agreement, saying they will go to Scarif with her - Blue Squadron is with her, and Gold! Bail Organa is nodding, and Senator Mothma… she has a look that says this isn’t over, but it is a start to something..

“General Draven…”

Jyn turns to face the woman, still standing on the table, and she feels hands behind her, her mother, pulling her down. She steps back onto the floor, and smiles at Bodhi, because she has to have hope, has to believe.

“Why don’t you contact Saw Gerrera… and see if he is interested in a joint force…”

There is a roar in the crowd, and Jyn is shocked as Bodhi’s arms wrap around her, picking her up and spinning her, and then her mother. She hugs them both tight, because they did it. They really did it.

“You did it,” her mother whispers into her ear, and Jyn smiles, because yeah… yeah she did.

“With me, Erso!” the General calls out, and she has to let go of her mother, has to follow after, because they might change their minds, they might - they have to get there in time. When it’s discovered that her mother is gone from Eadu, her father would be held under tighter guard. They had to move now, rather than later.

She might die on Scarif, might not actually reach her father, but it would be worth it. She is strong like her mother, strong like Kyber, and her hand wraps around her necklace as she follows the General.

HE is here, the one that she had seen, that had spoken up for her, and he follows one step behind General Draven, even though he hasn’t been called. They stop beside a comm station, and she gives him a long look, glancing him over. Nondescript, an air of aloofness, and a lean build. He’s a spy. He’s one of Draven’s spies.

“Contact Saw Gerrera on Jedha. Tell him that Davits Draven is reaching out to him with a hand of peace.”

They are doing this… Saw will answer. He has to. They are acting, the thing Saw complained about most that the Rebellion never did… The time for war has come, and they will join together.

General Draven turns to her, and to the man beside her, and she shifts her gaze away from the stranger, even as the General turns his attention to the other man.

“The pair of you will be planning our assault on Scarif. The Captain knows how to infiltrate without destruction, can find your father and get his hands on the plans, maybe even steal more while we’re there, and you will coordinate the Partisans. General Merrick will be here in a moment to plan air support.”

“Captain Cassian Andor,” he say before she can even ask, and she takes his hand, nodding at him.

“Jyn Erso,” she says, and she shakes it once, ignoring General Draven snorting and muttering something about finally making her a Rebel Officer. Making her a rebel officer, and having her get a real rank.

There is a hint of a smirk in the spy’s eyes, although it doesn’t cross his lips… and then a raise of his chin, like he is mildly impressed. Well then.

There is a sense of acceptance to his words, like he is both amused and pleased, and she can’t read into it, because he is a spy, and they have a battle to plan, but she… she wouldn’t mind learning how to read him, when they have the time.

“I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love!
> 
> Chat with me on [tumblr](http://melanoradrood.tumblr.com) about your Jyn Erso feels!
> 
> Written for Jyn Erso Appreciation Week. Hope everyone enjoyed!


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